Adapting Models to Warn Fungal Diseases in Vineyards Using In-Field Internet of Things (IoT) Nodes

Abstract

Weather conditions are one of the main threats that can lead to diseases in crops. Unfavourable conditions, such as rain or high humidity, can produce a risk of fungal diseases. Meteorological monitoring is vital to have some indication of a possible infection. The literature contains a wide variety of models for warning for this type of disease.These are capable of warning when an infection may be present. Devices (weather stations) able to measure weather conditions in real-time are needed to know precisely when an infection occurs in a smallholding. Besides, such models cannot be executed at the same time in which the observations are collected; in fact, these models are usually executed in batches at a rate of one per day. Therefore, these models need to be adapted to run at the same frequency as that at which observations are collected so that a possible disease can be dealt with as early as possible. The primary aim of this work is to adapt disease warning models to run in (near) real-time over meteorological variables generated by Internet of Things (IoT) devices, in order to inform farmers as quickly as possible if their crop is in danger of being infected by diseases, and to enable them to tackle the infection with the appropriate treatments. The work is centered on vineyards and has been tested in four different smallholdings in the province of Castellón (Spain).